Industry eyes a portion of the 700,000-plus direct-to-Phuket Russian arrivals over a five-month period (November-March) as the so-called “snowbirds” plan their return Tourism stakeholders in Phuket are heralding the landmark approval of the Sputnik vaccine by the Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) that is set to unleash the Russian market on the southern Thai island. Phuket has for years been a very popular destination with Russian travellers, peaking in 2019 with over 700,000 arrivals in a short five-month period in 2019, all arriving on direct flights from the Russian Federation. A total of 1.4 million Russians visited Phuket in 2019. The traditional snowbird period from November to March is when temperatures drop severely in Russia and also in many parts of northern Europe, signaling travelers to take flight for the tropical chimes and clear blue skies of Phuket. Bhummikitti Ruktaengam “This is great news for Phuket. It’s time to go beyond the Sandbox and
